


Day 10: Last Christmas

by VampireVengence



Series: Avengers Advent [10]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Morning, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Gen, M/M, Stony - Freeform, Stucky - Freeform, Unrequited Love, last christmas, winterhawk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 23:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8820574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireVengence/pseuds/VampireVengence
Summary: Bucky's first two christmases in the Avengers tower. Neither go as he expected.





	

_Last Christmas I gave you my heart_

Bucky felt nervous as they approached the Avengers tower. Having spent most of his year just him and Steve working through his issues at T'Challa's place, he hadn't been expecting to be moving in with the Avengers on Christmas Eve. He felt sick.

 

"Buck relax!" Steve wrapped his arm around his shoulder and squeezed gently. Bucky had to take a breath to calm the spike in his heart rate at the sudden contact. He really needed to get a grip on this. "It's gonna be fine." Bucky just shook his head a little. "How can you say that? After everything that's happened..." But Steve cut him off. "I wouldn't be doing this if I hadn't okayed it with them first. You're going to be fine. Look how far you've come in the past year." Bucky really couldn't find a way to argue with that. He took a breath and nodded. "Thanks Stevie."

 

It was awkward, but not as awkward as Bucky had imagined it would be. They all made the effort with him and did their best to include him and even Tony was being civil to him. It was all slightly overwhelming.

 

"Not so bad huh?" Steve asked as they settled down in what was to be there shared room. Bucky shrugged. "Could've been worse." Steve chuckled and smiled affectionately. "Told you so." Bucky shoved him lightly. "Shut up, punk."

 

Bucky wasn't really sure what to expect, it had been years since he'd actually celebrated Christmas. It turned out it was actually a lot of fun.

 

The morning had been a little awkward as everyone gave out their presents. The last minuteness of Bucky's arrival meant none of them had anything for him and he had nothing for them. Not that he'd been expecting anything. 

 

The food was good though, a lot better than what he remembered of Christmas food and everyone was happy chatting and passing things here, there and everywhere. 

 

After food came the games. Everyone split into teams and a score board was set up as a competition started up. He hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

 

The evening rolled around and everyone was lounging around, the exhaustion and gorging finally taking it's toll. Bucky sat slouched against Steve, head on his shoulder whilst Steve played absentmindedly with his hair. Bucky sighed in content.

 

"I have eggnog!" Tony declared, bringing in a large jug of creamy white milkish liquid and a tray of glasses. "Who wants some?" He started pouring glasses and handing them out. Bucky looked at the glass wearily before sniffing at it. "Jesus Stark!" Barton coughed. As Bucky took a weary mouthful he could understand why. All he could taste was pure bourbon. "What? It tastes fine to me." He defended taking a long swig of the drink like it was water. "Could do with a little more bourbon." Tony mused as Natasha rolled her eyes, not even bothering to touch her glass. "Spoken like a true alcoholic."

 

Beer and Wine came out as the games started up once more. The more people drunk, the more appealing Tony's eggnog became. It was funny to watch. Bucky had a significantly higher tolerance to alcohol than the regular humans but, unlike Steve, he could still get drunk. He wasn't about to make a total ass of himself though. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

 

He didn't remember who's idea it was to get the Karaoke machine out but Bucky found himself sat on the couch, a glass of Tony's stupid eggnog in hand, watching as Tony and Steve did a duet from a film he'd never seen. He was trying to force himself not to glare as he watched but it was stupidly difficult as he sat watching Tony all over Steve. Touching and leaning and being all close. Bucky just wants to reach out and slap his grabby hands away. _Mine!_ Except he wasn't, not really, and that was even more frustrating to the ex-assassin. He really needed to do something about that.

 

Before he could do anything about it right there in front of everyone like he was tempted to, Clint somehow managed to nearly choke and shoot beer out of his nose. Bucky was laughing so hard that he couldn't think about anything else.

 

When everyone finally headed to bed, Bucky found himself slowly wobbling towards their room with Steve's arm around his waist to keep him upright. Bucky was adamant he didn't need it but Steve didn't trust his judgement and decided to ignore the protest.

 

When they got to their room. Bucky leant heavily on Steve, he was still adamant he didn't need it, he just liked to be close to him. "Alright Buck, time for bed." Bucky righted himself and only wobbled slightly which he was pretty proud of. Without thinking he leant in and pressed a kiss to Steve's lips, well he managed to catch the corner at least which was good enough for now. "Love you Stevie." He slurred before wobbling over to his bed and collapsing on top of the covers fully clothed. He was snoring before Steve could even react.

_But the very next day you gave it away_

 

Bucky paused in the hallway just before the kitchen door. He could hear voices coming from inside and debated just heading back to his room and trying again later. His head felt like it was splitting in half and he really didn't want to deal with people right now. He slowly peered in and instantly wished he hadn't.

 

It was Steve and Tony. Tony was stood leant with his back against the counter, gripping a mug of coffee and looking a little worse for wears whilst Steve stood right in front of him, an arm either side of him on the counter. He smiled down at the genius in a soft intimate way that Bucky had never seen on him before.

 

Steve leant in and they exchange a lazy kiss and Bucky's stomach dropped out from the bottom. He felt sick and his chest was tight. "Barnes seemed to enjoy himself." Tony said, continuing whatever conversation Bucky had walked in on. "Yeah. Thank you so much for being so good about all this. After everything..." Steve trailed off as Tony rolled his eyes. "He's your best friend Steve, besides it wasn't his fault. I get it." He ran a hand through Steve's hair and Steve leant into the contact.

 

Bucky had seen enough and he quickly retreated. He made it nearly all the way to his and Steve's room without seeing anyone but just as the elevator reached the floor just below, Clint joined him in the elevator all sleepy eyes and yawning. He was barely awake and Bucky could see him fiddling with his ears. "Morning." He yawned, words running together slightly. "Might wanna avoid the kitchen." Bucky managed to mutter before slipping out on his floor.

 

He was sat outside on the balcony. It was cold and it looked like it might rain but Bucky refused to go inside, no sir. The crisp air was doing wonders to clear his head and it meant avoiding Steve so it was a win win. He heard a light shuffling and looked around to try and locate the source of the sound. "Psst." He jolted slightly, still looking around. _What the hell?_ "Up here." He glanced up to see Clint's face peering down at him from the roof. Bucky just kinda stared at him a moment before the archer rolled his eyes. "You coming up or not?" Before he could respond Clint disappeared again.

 

He debated his options a moment before deciding he had nothing to lose. He stood up and gauged the building. It wasn't that big a drop between the roof and the balcony but he wasn't so sure the drain pipe would support him if he tried to climb it. He slowly climbed up onto the railing of the balcony, balancing a moment before leaping up. He just managed to get a solid grip with his metal arm before his body collided with the side of the building drawing an "Oof." from him.

 

He was halfway through drawing himself up onto the roof when he felt a hand on his shoulder pulling hard. "I gotcha." Clint grunted as he helped pull Bucky up. "Jesus Terminator you coulda used the stairs." Clint sighed as he dropped down into a sitting position, patting the concrete next to him for Bucky to join him. Bucky shrugged a shifted himself slightly. "Nah that would mean going inside."

 

"And facing Steve." Clint finished for him, catching him by surprise. "You really didn't know about Tony and Steve?" Bucky just shook his head, doing his damnedest not to let the hurt show on his face. How could Steve do this to him? After everything? He let Bucky fall in love with him and all that time he's been with Tony and he didn't say a word. Not one god damn word! "How long?" Bucky found himself asking, voice barely a whisper. Clint thought about it. "Just over a year maybe?" He shrugged and Bucky felt a stab in stomach.

 

He ended up spending most of the afternoon up on the roof with Clint cracking jokes and generally having a good time. They were pretty similar in a lot of ways and Bucky definitely enjoyed the guys company. His stomach actually hurt from all the laughing.

 

"There you are!" They both turned around to see Steve slowly approaching from a door Bucky could only assume lead to the elevator. "Hey Cap." Clint grinned, eyes sparkling. "Clint." Steve nodded, all seriousness and focus. _Ut-oh Captain America mode._ "Buck can we talk for a minute?" He exchanged a look with Clint before Clint stood up. "I'll leave you guys too it."

 

Steve came over and sat down in the spot Clint had just vacated. "You're avoiding me." He stated and Bucky really thought he'd been more subtle than that. "If this it about-" He began but Bucky cut him off. "Why didn't you tell me about Stark?" This seemed to catch Steve by surprise. "What about him?" Bucky rolled his eyes. "That you're screwing him." Steve stiffened, eye's wide. "How did you-"

"I saw you two in the kitchen this morning."

 

It was obvious Steve didn't know what to say. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times but no sound came out. "Hell Buck. I'm so sorry." He finally said, looking down at his shoes. "How long?" He whispered. Not sure he wanted to know. "A year and a half." Steve replied. Ouch. "And you didn't tell me." Steve looked genuinely guilty. "I'm sorry Buck. I just... I didn't really see it as important. I was trying to get you better, that's what was important." Bucky gave a small smile. "You happy?" Steve nodded, a stupid love sick smile that made Bucky's stomach twist violently forming on his face. "Yeah Buck, really happy." He nodded slowly, pushing down the pain that was swelling in his chest. "Good. You deserve to be happy Steve."

_This year to save me from tears I'll give it to someone special_

 

Bang! Bang! Bang! "Wakey, wakey Buckaroo." Bucky groaned and buried his head further into his pillow. He was going to kill that little shit. It went silent for a moment and Bucky was just starting to relax when he was jumped on. He gasped and flailed slightly as he felt breath against his ear and a light chuckle. "Rise and shine."  
"Get off me asshole." Clint laughed again but rolled off of him. "It's nearly noon." He informed him, pressing his back against the wall next to Bucky's bed. "So?" Bucky sighed, rolling over and sitting up to face the archer. "So it's Christmas Eve and Stark will kill you if you're not ready for this stupid gala thing tonight." Bucky gave another groan.

 

Tony was throwing a charity Christmas party thing and all the Avengers were being forced to go. Bucky really didn't feel that he should be there. He wasn't even officially an Avenger yet, sure he'd been training with them and SHIELD were getting the paperwork side of stuff sorted but still not officially allowed out in the field yet. So why the hell did he need to spend his evening surrounded by hundreds of important people he didn't know in an uncomfortable suit feeling awkward and out of place. This really wasn't his thing.

 

"Hey if I have to suffer this shit then so do you." Clint said, poking his side and making Bucky squirm. The pair had become good friends over the past year and Bucky knew Clint wasn't gonna let this rest until he was dressed and ready to go. He really hated the little shit sometimes. 

 

"There's a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen." He said with a smirk and yep, that'll get Bucky out of bed. 

 

Bucky huffed as he stood awkwardly in the main area with Steve waiting for the others to be ready. "God damn, how long does it take to get ready?" He huffed, sitting down on the arm of the couch. 

 

Both he and Steve were wearing black suits with white shirts the only difference was that Bucky's tie was black whereas Steve's was blue with small prints of his shield on it. It had been a gift from Tony. 

 

Steve just laughed. "You seem a little tense Buck." He just grunted in response. Tense had to be the understatement of the century. "You should put your hair up." He mused, reaching out to touch Bucky's hair. "It'll look smarter." Bucky rolled his eyes and leant back just out of Steve's reach. "Don't touch my hair." 

 

It was then that Tony walked in, fixing his cufflinks as he did. His suit looked expensive and his bright red tie was no doubt real silk. "Looking good Cap." He said with a grin, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. Bucky rolled his eyes, how these two were going to keep their hands to themselves for the evening he'd never know.

 

Not long after Bruce and Natasha came down. Natasha looked incredibly elegant with her hair piled up on his head and a long silver dress that was reminiscent of a hollywood starlet. "We ready to go boys?" She asked, snapping them all from their stunned staring. "Still waiting on Barton." Tony said with a huff, eyes on his watch. "You wanna go see what's taking your boyfriend so long?" He glanced up at Bucky who just rolled his eyes. 

 

Normally he'd be happy to give Stark an earful of snark but right now he felt pretty on edge and punching Steve's boyfriend probably wasn't a good idea. 

 

He made his way down to Clint's floor and headed straight to his bedroom. The door was wide open and as Bucky peeked in he found himself frozen in shock. Clint had his back to him but he could see his reflection in the mirror and he was looking really good. The suit was fitted and black, he didn't think he'd ever seen the archer look so sophisticated. 

 

He cleared his throat and knocked on the door frame causing the jumped to slightly. He spun around to face the grinning Bucky with an unimpressed look. "What was it you were saying about Stark killing people for not being ready?" Clint gave a huff of annoyance before turning back to the mirror. "I'm nearly ready." He muttered. 

 

Bucky stepped further into the room, watching the archer as he stared intently into the mirror. "What are you doing Barton?" Clint sighed before turning back to him. "I can't tie this stupid tie." He pouted. Bucky chuckled as he looked at the loose purple bowtie that hung around Clint's neck. "Come here." He chuckled before stepping forward and tying the tie himself. 

 

"How do I look?" He asked, pulling a supposedly swarve pose. "Cute." Bucky laughed making Clint pouted. He looked stunning but the Bowtie just added an adorable edge to the look. "I am not cute!" Bucky just laughed before grabbing him by the elbow and pulling him along. "Come on, before Stark strings us up by the balls." 

 

The gala was just as horrific as Bucky had imagined. He found himself hiding in the corner and doing his best to be invisible. He really didn't want to spend his evening surrounded by the press and various potential business associates for Stark Industries. He'd much rather be kicking Clint's ass on his Xbox or something. 

 

"Careful there Robocop, keep going the way you're going and people might think you're having fun." Bucky rolled his eyes as Clint approached. "Can we go yet?" Clint laughed. "We've only been here an hour!" Bucky sighed and took a mouthful of his drink. "I hate this kinda thing." He muttered. "Bullshit! Steve used to tell me you guys used to go out dancing all the time." Bucky rolled his eyes. "Taking a dame out dancing is totally different to hanging around a place like this trying to impress people whilst the media watches your every move." Clint shrugged. "So? Don't worry about them. Stark's handling all that stuff, you don't need to worry about anything." Bucky gave him an unimpressed look but didn't argue.

 

The pair ended up standing in the corner together chatting for the next couple of hours. "So how come being on our best behaviour means Tony and Steve have to stay as far away from each other as physically possible?" Bucky mused. Wasn't the 21st century supposed to be accepting of all that stuff now? "They're trying to impress the media, they want this gala thing in the news but for the right reasons, not just because Captain America and Ironman are screwing." Clint said with a shrug. "Isn't all publicity good publicity?" Bucky was pretty sure he'd heard Tony say something like that. "Well yeah but if they chose tonight to come out to the press then that's all they'd talk about. The gala and all the people the charity helps wouldn't get mentioned." Bucky paused to consider this before sighing. 

 

"So these dances." Clint began, changing the subject entirely. "What were they like?" Bucky blinked, a little confused by the mischievous look in Clint's eye as he leant in a little closer. "Halls, a bit like this, full of people dancing to music." He wasn't sure what else to say. "You a good dancer Buck?" Bucky shrugged. He'd done okay in his time but that was a very long time ago. "I was okay." He said awkwardly, doing his best not to let himself get distracted by how close Clint was. His eyes sparkling and bright. Bucky was pretty sure Clint couldn't be that drunk, he'd matched the guy beer for beer and that despite his higher tolerance he was usually pretty good at gauging what was considered a lot. 

 

"Show me some of your moves?" Clint teased, whispering in his ear. Bucky found himself glancing around to make sure they were still going unnoticed. "Later." Bucky promised but Clint just started pouting. "Aw, I wanna dance now." Bucky rolled his eyes and did his best to resist Clint's puppy dog eyes. "No. What were we _just_ talking about?" Clint furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Tony and Steve fucking." He giggled and Bucky sighed. "Yes and how them causing a scene would be?"

"Bad." Bucky nodded but it was quickly apparent that Clint still wasn't getting it. "So us dancing would be?" Clint opened his mouth to answer but ended up closing it again with a pout. 

 

"Fine." He finally sighed. "You wanna beer?" He asked stepping back slightly. "I think you've had enough." Clint huffed with mild annoyance but smirked. "Come on Old Man don't be boring." Bucky rolled his eyes but Clint just giggled. "You're such a child." Clint just stuck his tongue out. "Okay I'll cut you a deal." Clin began. "I won't drink anymore here but when we go home you'll show me how to dance and then we'll get wasted on Tony's expensive scotch which he thinks no one will find by hiding it in that cupboard with all the cleaning equipment." Bucky nodded but then blinked in surprise. "We have a cleaning cupboard?" 

 

Bucky woke up with a groan, staring up at his ceiling. His arm was numb and as he glanced sideways he worked out why. Clint was lying on it. _Oh shit._

 

Bucky didn't remember much of the night before. He remember being shown the cleaning cupboard where there were three bottles of single malt scotch whiskey. Bucky couldn't pronounce the name but it was 50 years old so he was guessing it was pretty pricey. He vaguely remembered trying to show Clint to dance which had been stupidly unsuccessful, but that was as far as memory went. He sure as hell didn't remember at any point getting into bed with him. Atleast they were both dressed. Mostly. 

 

It was then that Clint started to stir. "Oh man my head." He groaned, rolling over to face Bucky. He didn't seem all that surprised to see him. "What happened?" He asked, shifting slightly to free Bucky's arms. "Whiskey. Whiskey happened." Bucky pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, hoping to quash the dull ache that had started to thud just behind them. Clint chuckled. "Man, Stark is gonna kill us." 

 

Clint sat up, leaning over Bucky slightly as he did. Bucky's eyes widened as something suddenly floated up through the murky depths of his memory. Clint's lips planted sloppily on his own. _Fuck._

 

Bucky jolted upright, jostling Clint as he did. "Wow, steady on Buck." He said, steadying himself against the wall, all Bucky could do was stare at him in shock. "Hey where's my shirt." Clint looked down at his bare torso, somehow he'd managed to keep the stupid bowtie on. "We kissed." He whispered, the words barely audible.

 

Clint just sat staring at him a moment and Bucky could see the gears slowly turning in his head as he tried to remember. His eyes widened at the moment it clicked and Bucky could feel his stomach sink. "I uh... yeah. I guess we did." 

 

The pair sat staring at each other as Bucky's mind raced back to the previous year. Making a total idiot of himself by kissing Steve when he already had a boyfriend. They'd never spoken about it and Bucky was so grateful for that but as he sat there right staring helplessly at Clint he had no clue what to say or do. 

 

Out of nowhere Clint lent across the space and connected their lips. They were soft and moist and Bucky brain instantly shut down at the contact. Clint pulled back with a small smile and Bucky really didn't know what to make of that. 

 

"You're panicking." Clint's face dropped instantly. "Shit, I thought. I mean- did you?" Bucky knew exactly what he meant even with the broken nonsensical sentences. 

 

He leant in this time, connecting their lips in order to stop Clint's sudden panic and reassure him. This was definitely something he wanted. He pulled back enough to breathe but didn't go far. "Oh." Clint mumbled and Bucky gave a little chuckle. "Yeah."   
"So this is a thing then?" Bucky nodded, unable to keep himself from smiling. "Yes this is a thing." 

 

They spent most of the morning just laying out on Bucky's bed sharing kisses and just enjoying each others company. "You know the others are probably wondering where we are." Clint mused, breaking the silence. "Probably." Bucky agreed. "They'll probably come looking for us before long." Bucky just hummed in agreement. "You know there's no way I'm gonna be able to get out of here without them noticing." Bucky shrugged. "Unless you wanna climb the drainpipe." Clint punched him lightly making Bucky grin. "Or you can use the vents." Clint laughed again. "You trying to get rid of me?" Bucky laughed looking down at where Clint lay with his head on his chest. "Yeah actually, you're boring me now." 

 

Clint scoffed and sat up with a pout. "Fuck you Barnes." Bucky's smirk turned into a shit eating grin. "Maybe later." He punched his shoulder making Bucky laugh. "Come on, we should probably go face the music. Besides I need coffee." 

 

They got up and walked towards the elevator. "Hey Clint." He hummed in response. "Merry Christmas." Clint laughed, stepping forward and pressing a kiss to Bucky's cheek, leaning into his chest. "Merry Christmas Buck." 


End file.
